Bag-holder for mail-bag cranes.



No. 688,903. Patented Dec. l7, I90l. W. W. USSERY.

BAG HOLDER FOR MAIL BAG CBANES.

(Application filed Aug. 14, 1901.) (No Model.)

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WILLIAM W. USSERY, OF COLUMBIA, TENNESSEE.

BAG-HOLDER FOR MAIL-BAG GRANES.

SPECIFICATION forming part of Letters Patent No. 688,903, dated December 17, 1901. Application filed August 14, 1901. Serial No. 72,074; (No model.)

To all whom it may concern.-

Be it known that I, WILLIAM W. USSERY, a citizen of the United States, residing at Golumbia, in the county of Maury and State of Tennessee, have invented a new and useful Bag-Holder for Mail-Bag Oran es, of which the following is a specification.

This invention relates generally "to mailbag cranes, and more particularly to that part which engages the straps or rings of the mailbag to hold the same suspended from the crane, and has for its objects to present means that will operate securely to hold the bag suspended and that will permit the release of the bag with certainty when the same is engaged by the bag-catcher of a passing train, the device to be extremely simple of construction, efficient and durable in use, and readily applicable to the arms of existing mail-bag cranes without necessitating any change in the structural arrangement of the same.

A further object is to provide a device of the character specified which in operation will be certain to release the bag, so that tearing or injuring of the'bag or the suspending straps or rings will be entirely obviated.

A further object is to provide a device of the character specified which will not deteriorate upon exposure to the elements and which will not require attention to insure its proper operation, but which, on the other hand, when once set up for use will continue to be thoroughly effective in operation until damaged or worn out.

With these and other objects in view, as will appear as the nature of the invention is better understood, the invention consists in the novel construction and combination of parts of a bag-holder for mail-bag cranes, as will be hereinafter fully described and claimed.

In the accompanying drawings, forming a part of this specification, and in which like numerals of reference indicate corresponding parts, there is illustrated a form of embodi ment of the invention capable of carrying the same into effect, it being understood that the elements herein exhibited may be varied or changed as to shape, proportion, and exact manner of assemblage without departing from the scope of the invention, and in these draw- 1ngs-- Figure 1 is a view in side elevation exhibiting a mail-bag crane with the improvements of the present invention applied thereto and with a mail-bag suspended in operative position. Fig. 2 isa detail View, in side elevation, of one of the bag-supporting arms, showing thesame in its tripped position or that occupied when the bag is released therefrom, Fig. 3 is a View in transverse section taken on the line 3 3, Fig. 2, and looking in the direction of the arrow thereon.

Referring to the drawings, 1 designates a crane comprising the usual post 1, lower arm 2, and upper arm 3, these arms being pivotally connected with the post in any usual or preferred manner, whereby when not engaged by the bag to occupy a vertical position, the upper arm 3 being counterweighted for this purpose. To the under side of the arm 2 and upper side of the arm 3 is securely bolted a plate 4, which extends some distance beyond the respective arms and carries at its outer portion 'a mail-bag-engaging means, (designated, generally, 5.) As the plates and their attached mechanism are alike in every particular and operate in the same manner, a description of one of the bag-engaging means will serve for both. The said means comprises an arm 6, having its outer end reduced to present a finger 7 to engage with the ring 8 of the mailbag 9, as usual. The innerend of thearm is enlarged to present a head 10, having a flat bearing-surface 11 to engage with the plate 4, as shown in Fig. 1, when the bag is suspended and with a cam-surface 12 also to bear upon the plate 4 to effect automatic return of the arm to its normal position after having been tripped or thrown to the position shown in Fig. The head 10 is provided with a vertical recess or slot 13, (indicated by dotted lines in Fig. 2 and clearly shown in Fig. 3,) said recessto be engaged by one end of a rod 14, this end being formed into ahook 15 to engage with a pin 16, extending transversely through the slotted portion of the head. The rod 14: passes through an opening 17 in the plate and carries on its lower portion a nut 18, between which and the plate is disposed a spiral spring 19, coiled about the rod and bearing at its upper end against the plate and at its lower end upon a washer 20. The function of this spring is to cause the bag-engaging arm normally to occupy the position shown in Fig. l and also to cause the automatic return of the arm to this position after it has been thrown downward or upward, as the case may be, according to which arm is regarded, by the release of the mail-bag. By turning the nut upon the rod let the tension of the spring may be adjusted to cause it to suspend a bag of any weight, it being preferred, however, to keep the spring under just sufficient tension to cause it to resist the tendency to being tripped, due to the weight of the bag and its contents, so that when the bag is withdrawn from the arms there will be no danger of the rings or straps becoming damaged from undue resistance presented by the arms to being tripped. In addition to the swinging or pivotal movement of the pin or bearing 16the arm also has a swinging movement on a horizontal plane resulting from the rotation of the rod 14 in the opening 17 of the plate, the second movement being provided in order to cause the arm to assume a position at right angles to that normally occupied when the bag is removed therefrom, and this latter.

movement still further red uces the resistance to release of the bag-rings from the said arms.

Briefly to reiterate and to accentuate the importance of the two movements of the arm or mail-bag engage-r, as this is the salient feature of the invention, it is to be borne in mind that the engager has a movement about two axes disposed at right angles to each other, the pin 16 constituting one axis and the rod 14 the other, and by this double axial movement when the mail-bag is first engaged by the mail-bag catcher the impact therefrom will cause the engagers to be turned at right angles to their normal position, and as the bag is detached the engagers will be tripped, so that disengagement of the mail-bag rings therefrom will readily be eifected, after which the springs 19 exert their power to effect automatic return of the engagers to their normal or raised position.

It is to be understood that the invention is not to be limited to the precise manner of associating the rod 14 with the pin 16, as herein shown, as it will be obvious that instead of having the head of the arm slotted for the reception of the rod this may be provided at its upper end with a yoke having its terminals formed into hooks, the yoke to straddle the head and to engage the ends of the pin 16, which under this latter construction would project beyond the sides of the head.

It is further to be understood that the invention is not to be confined to the precise contour of the engagers herein shown, as

these may be otherwise shaped and still be within the scope of the invention.

It will be seen from the foregoing description that while the device of this invention is exceedingly simple of construction it may be manufactured and applied to existing mailbag cranes in a ready manner and without necessitating any change in the structural arrangement thereof.

Having thus fully described the invention, what I claim as new, and desire to secure by Letters Patent, is-

1. The combination with a crane-arm of a mail-bag engager mounted for vertical swinging movement upon a fixed transverse axis and for lateral pivotal movement on a vertically-yieldable axis.

2. The combination with a crane-arm, of a mail-bag en gager mounted for vertical swinging movement about a fixed transverse axis and for lateral pivotal movement about a spring-retracted axis.

3. The combination with a crane-arm, of a mail-bag engager provided at one end with means for engaging the ring of the mail-bag, and at the opposite end with a cam-bearing head, and a spring-pressed rod connected with the head.

4. The combination with a crane-arm, of a mail-bag engager provided at one end with a finger having a shoulder adjacent thereto, and

at the opposite end with a cam-bearing head, and a spring-pressed rod connected with the head.

5. The combination with a crane-arm, of a mail-bag engager provided at one end with a finger having a stop or shoulder adjacent thereto, and at the opposite end with a Vertically-slotted cam-bearing head, and a springpressed rod connected with the head and working in the slot therein.

6. The combination with a crane-arm, of a plate, a mail-bag engager provided at one end with a finger having a stop or shoulder adjacent thereto and at the opposite end with a vertically-slotted cam-bearing head carrying a transversely-disposed pin, a rod having its upper end provided with a hook and its lower end projected beyond the plate, a spring on the rod bearing against the plate, and springtension-regulating means on the rod.

In testimony that I claim the foregoing as my own I have hereto affixed my signature in the presence of two witnesses.

WILLIAM \V. USSERY.

Witnesses:

ERNEST T. SCRIBNER, FRANK O. LATTA. 

